Next Saturday will mark 112 days since Ireland won a Test series in New Zealand for the first time in their history. The time has flown. There is no handbrake on that sort of feelgood. When Ireland went home from that tour, they left their host nation New Zealand in a blanket of despondency. A state of inertia where the managed decline of the All Blacks was punctuated only with newer and fresher indignities. However, the Kiwis managed to remember who they were and that they had a responsibility to their nation and they hung tough. Some bloody-mindedness and constancy of purpose got them over a hump and lest anyone forgets it, they ended up winning the Rugby Championship. Time has run slowly for New
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